ECE2017 Symposia Predictors of therapeutic response in functioning pituitary tumours (3 abstracts)
Belgium.
The T2-weighted characteristics of GH-secreting pituitary adenomas have recently received particular attention from the research community. It now appears that somatotropinomas can be divided into groups with different behavior according to their T2-weighted signal. T2-hypointense adenomas are generally smaller, invade the cavernous sinus less frequently and are responsible for higher levels of GH-hypersecretion (Fig. 1). Treatment with somatostatin analogues, both before and after surgery, leads to different responses of T2-hypointense adenomas versus non-hypointense tumours. The T2-hypointense adenomas have higher GH and IGF1 decreases and more important tumour shrinkage rates (1). It is therefore interesting to have high quality T2-weighted MRI images at the diagnosis of acromegaly, as it allows to estimate disease evolution and to orient the management strategy.
Reference
1. Potorac, J et al. T2-weighted MRI signal predicts hormone and tumor responses to somatostatin analogs in acromegaly. Endocr Relat Cancer 23(11):871-881.
Figure 1 Hyperintense (a) and hypointense (b) GH-secreting adenomas on T2 W MRI.